bike culture blogged

While I’m into the modern shapes of carbon, the industrial welds of Ti, a fine lugged steel bike like this always catches my eye; especially, when I’m on a retro kick with my new fav Bianchi jersey and 76 shoes.

Fondriest details

Likely Italian threaded

This bike isn’t new and was shown last year at Dealer Camp. I missed that show sitting in an airport and a colleague just sent the photos to me. He said this one was welded in Italy by Sacha White. Fanboys will wood up over that frame fact.

you know, i’d kinda like my Fondriest built by Maurizio Fondriest, but since he doesn’t actually build bikes himself, I’d like my Italian steel built by some guy with a name like Guiseppe or Angelo, probably in between drags on unfiltered cigarettes while football is broadcast on an old radio. It turns out that most bikes from Italian brands seem to be built by guys with names Li or Xiang rather than Sacha or Fausto though.

When I heard that sexy detail about the bike, I then visualized how that went down. So, Sacha, the self-proclaimed pioneering member of the new generation of frame builders, showed up in Italy to school builders on how to weld a bike frame? Maybe it’s cause Fondriest focuses on carbon they don’t know how to make bikes with welds and no one they know does either, like their Bros at Colnago.

I’m guessing though that Guiseppe or Angelo first extinguished their cigarettes, tipped back their caps, and said in the equivalent Italian of “oh this is going to be good.” Then watched a Portlander weld like their fathers did.